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Man Faces Feb. Sentencing In 3 Murders From 1972

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MONROE (WWJ/AP) - A man faces sentencing next year in Monroe County after entering a plea agreement in three slayings from 1972.

Laurence Lamont, 69, on Tuesday pleaded no contest to three counts of second-degree murder. He could be sentenced to life in prison, but still would be eligible for parole in 10 years, The Monroe Evening News reported.

Lamont was charged in the deaths of three Monroe County men: 68-year-old Earl Ludlow, of Temperance; 23-year-old Joseph Satcher, of Toledo; and 36-year-old Frank Welzbacher, of Sylvania, Ohio. Police say Lamont, along with an accomplice, abducted the victims during robberies of gas stations and party stores before killing them back in Michigan. In all, police say Lamont was accused in the deaths of seven people in six states.

Lamont has served 41 years in an Ohio prison on federal kidnapping charges in the case, but has never been charged with murder — until now. His accomplice died behind bars.

The plea agreement avoids a trial, which had been expected to be complicated because of how much time passed since the killings. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 6.

A no contest plea isn’t an admission of guilt, but is treated as such for sentencing.